As the sun slowly rises over the surrounding mountaintops directly east of Las Vegas on the early mornings of Dec. 30 and 31, you can clearly see the landing lights of numerous planes, slowly descending on their final approach into Las Vegas. This sight of approaching planes will continue for most of Dec. 30 and a good portion of Dec. 31. Thousands of flights over these two days will be carrying hundreds of passengers, who have decided to ring in the New Year in Las Vegas. Their plans will also include some gambling and, most likely, lots of alcohol consumption. This is a bad combination for tourists but a perfect mix for the casinos that lay in wait for these foot soldiers, which will be casually removed from their assets that they brought with them to gamble.

Sprinkled among these foot soldiers on these flights over the two days are about 51 men and women who blend in like stealth bombers that are invisible to radar. For the most part, these 51 players are unseen by the casino radar system, which we all know and refer to as the Surveillance Department (or the Eye in the Sky). In keeping with the military theme, these highly trained players are like a highly trained, Special Forces unit (e.g., Green Berets) that are dispatched to destroy the enemy. To this select group, the enemy is all the casinos in Las Vegas that make it an everyday habit of killing the bankroll of these unsuspecting foot soldier with games that they are not prepared, or knowledgeable enough, to beat. This group of select players will dismantle and destroy any casino game by turning the mathematical edge in their favor.

Once that is accomplished, their next mission is to procure a "premium" bottle of champagne from the enemy that they just beat with this proviso: the bottles of premium champagne must be comped from the enemy; otherwise, their mission is considered unsuccessful. (Cue Mission Impossible Music.)

Once all of the orders are successfully completed, these 51 highly skilled men and women bring their spoils of victory (i.e., their bottle of premium champagne secured by a casino comp) with them and gather at a very secret location somewhere in Las Vegas for the annual Blackjack Ball. This infamous "party" of blackjack pros has been organized and hosted each year (for the past 15 years) by their Commander in Chief, Max Rubin. (Note: You must be personally invited by Max to attend the Blackjack Ball.)

For most of the year, however, these skilled players work alone, or with at most one or two associates, relieving the casinos of some of their cash. Therefore, this gathering of these semi- and professional players from around the world is not only rare but also dangerous if someone from the casino hierarchy were to have information on the location of this event. In fact, the casinos would pay big money for inside information on exactly where this party was being held. (Just think of the value for the casinos in getting current and up-to-date photos of these players.)

Therefore, I am not (or ever) going to reveal to you the location of the Blackjack Ball. However, I will allow you to feel like you were there by sharing with you the 21-question test that this gathering of blackjack pros took. The top six players with the most correct answers in the test competed further until one player was crowned the #1 Advantage Player for 2010, and received the infamous Grosjean Cup.

(Note: This award was renamed a few years ago after professional player James Grosjean who came in first and won the Blackjack Ball Award year after year. Grosjean was no longer allowed to compete in this contest, but in his honor of being the world’s greatest advantage player, the award was named after him. Most heroes have to wait until they die before something is named after them. With James, it is a fitting and well-deserved honor.

I have attended the Blackjack Ball since 2003 and I can tell you this: this year’s test was difficult, so do not despair if you are stumped by some (or a lot) of the questions. As a benchmark, the highest score from this gathering of blackjack pros was only 11 correct answers out of 21 questions. There was actually a six-way tie for the final five spots at the Final Table.

(Note: The tiebreaker question is included at the end of the test.)

Part time AP player Kevin D. got only four questions correct and was proclaimed "the world's worst blackjack player" by Rubin (shame shame). Kevin was unceremoniously presented with an autographed copy of attendee Kevin Blackwood's book, Casino Gambling for Dummies, for his ineptitude.

The ball (rather the Blackjack Ball) is now in your court, and you have a benchmark to get at least five (or more) answers correct. Get 12 correct and you would have made it to the final table.

Keep in mind when taking this test you cannot use any materials (i.e. books) or devices (i.e., calculators or computers) to research the answers. Max carefully said each question once, and then repeated it a second time. The pros then had 10 seconds to write their answer on the answer sheet (which was quickly graded after the test was completed). Keep track of the time when you attempt to answer each question (you have only 10 seconds, no more, to write down your answer to each question). Good luck!

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